Izzy Rees was born in West London, but has spent the last 30 years living in Derby. Ten years ago, when her three girls were young, she began work on a series of rhyming picture books, created in snatched moments, and initially written on small scraps of paper or whatever was available. She always intended to revisit them, and Covid and lockdown presented the opportunity; unable to continue her work as a neurophysiotherapist, working with vulnerable patients, she decided it was now or never!

The first book in the series, The Boy Who Breathed Underwater, is due to be published in July 2021. It is the story of a little boy’s adventures, with a theme of all things in life being a combination of positives and negatives, and is ultimately a story of self-acceptance. Teachers will find it a great resource for its use of rhyme, days of the week, and the topic of superpowers. Children will love it for the scenarios where the child is very powerful, which are humorously illustrated by Sarah-Leigh Wills.

Izzy’s books were mostly conceived following her experiences as a parent, and she intends to write more. Now that two of her daughters are at university, perhaps she will be inspired by one of the many pets she lives with: two dogs, four cats, eight fancy mice, three gerbils, one tortoise, a fish, and in the spring and summer, several frogs and newts in the pond outside.